Reef
both
Level 5/10

Big Corn Island

Corn Islands, Nicaragua
🪸Sharp reef⚠️Shallow🏝️Remote

Big Corn Island is Nicaragua's Caribbean surf frontier—a remote island 70km offshore where coral reef breaks come alive during the rainy season and tropical storm activity. The east coast faces the open Caribbean and needs east to northeast swell (45°-135°) to produce surfable waves, which occurs during sustained trade wind periods, tropical storms, or winter cold fronts pushing NE swell. While not as consistent as the Pacific coast, the reward is empty tropical perfection: crystal-clear water, uncrowded lineups, and the adventure of surfing Nicaragua's forgotten coast. Serious surf exploration.

3-Day Forecast
Today
29
0
Poor
0.6m
@6s
20km/h
Thu
30
22
Poor
0.9m
@9s
22km/h
Fri
1
13
Poor
1.0m
@9s
21km/h
+7
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Today's Conditions

Swell
0.6m
E(80°)
Score: 3/25
Period
6s
Short period / windswell
Score: 2/25
Wind
20km/h
NE(50°)
Score: 0/25
Weather
28°C
0.1mm30%
Windswell Component
0.3mNE@2s
Secondary Swell
0.2mNE
Forecast Confidence
100%
Sources: open-meteo-marine, open-meteo-weather
Best Session
morning
AM: 14 km/h ENE|PM: 23 km/h NE
14 km/h vs 23 km/h afternoon
High tide at 11am (0.1m)

Location & Conditions

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0°45°90°135°180°225°270°315°NESW
Swell
Wind
View in OpenStreetMap
Showing forecast for today

Tide Times

6:00 am
Low tide - 0.05m
11:30 am
High tide - 0.15m
1:30 pm
Low tide - 0.14m
Times shown in spot-local time.

Strike Score Breakdown

0
Poor
Components
Swell Direction18/25
Swell Size3/25
Swell Period2/25
Wind0/25
Raw Score23/100
Adjustments
🌊💨 Windswell-3
⚠️ Weak Component-15
📉 Undersized Swell-10
🚫 Undersized Capmax 44
Adjusted Score0/100
Confidence
Multiplier×1.00
Final Score0

Spot Details

Swell Requirements

Optimal direction
E (90°)
Direction range
45° - 135°
Size range
0.8m - 2.5m
Ideal size
2.1m
Height multiplier
1.00×
Ideal period
12s+

Wind Requirements

Optimal direction
W (270°)
Offshore range
225° - 315°

Tide Requirements

Optimal tide
mid to high
Optimal range
0.3m - 1.5m
Danger below
0.2m

Water temp

28°C

Wetsuit

Boardshorts / Rashguard

Difficulty

5/10

Crowd level

1/10

Access: Fly to Corn Island Airport (RNI) from Managua. East coast reef breaks.

Best Season

Peak: May-Oct

Secondary: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Rainy season (May-Oct) brings best waves. NE winter swells secondary. Needs E-ENE Caribbean swell or tropical storm activity.

Getting There

Airport
RNI
Drive time
0 min
Data quality
community

🤙 Strike Specialist

The Strike Specialist in Nicaragua is Sea Nicaragua Travel. Get in touch with them for the best chance of scoring the best waves in Nicaragua — and don't forget to tell 'em Barrel D sent ya.

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